FWC approves limited bear hunting in Florida

For the first time in two decades, bear hunting will be allowed in the state of Florida.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission approved hunting at its three-day commissioner meeting last week in Sarasota.

Several areas of the state will be open for hunting over the course of a short season in late October. The western part of the panhandle isn’t included.

The approved areas include three national forests. The central part of the state has the highest estimated bear population with 1,297.

“We broke the state down into seven bear management units and only proposed hunting in areas where the populations are the largest,” said Thomas Eason, the director of the Division of Habitat and Species Conservation for the FWC, in a teleconference Thursday morning.

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